FTC, Whole Foods reach deal on Wild Oats purchase

As part of a deal with federal regulators, Whole Foods Market Inc. has agreed to sell 31 of its stores -- some operating and some not -- including three in the Portland area.

The grocer, which until recently had been fighting an antitrust case filed by the Federal Trade Commission, could close its Whole Foods store in Hillsboro's Orenco Station neighborhood, along with 11 others nationwide. Two other empty buildings that once housed Wild Oats stores in Lake Oswego and Gresham also are slated for potential sale, as well as 17 others nationwide.

The company also could put the Wild Oats trademark and any associated intellectual property on the market.

Whole Foods' sell-off plan is part of a settlement that still must be approved by the FTC, expected soon after a public comment period ends April 6.

In a statement Friday, Whole Foods Chief Executive John Mackey said he aims to keep operating stores open through their purchase and will guarantee jobs at other stores for affected employees or provide severance packages.

In 2007, the FTC alleged that Whole Foods' August purchase of its 110-store rival Wild Oats Markets Inc. of Boulder, Colo., had created a monopoly. The federal agency lost early bids to block the purchase so Whole Foods moved forward, changing some Wild Oats stores to its own label and closing others.

The federal agency stepped up its efforts to investigate the sale last year and, on appeal, won the right to take Whole Foods to administrative court. Many industry watchers had speculated that if the FTC had won, it would have required the natural foods giant to sell off all assets associated with Wild Oats.

The grocer's face-off with federal regulators roped in several local natural foods retailers, the largest being New Seasons Market, which Whole Foods subpoenaed last year in search of proprietary information, such as store-level sales figures and expansion plans.

Portland-based New Seasons vigorously fought the subpoena, finally reaching a deal in January to hand over a more limited amount of data to Whole Foods.

Whole Foods had said it only need the information to defend itself in a case that it felt was unfounded. The settlement between Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods and the FTC came as their April court date loomed.

"We are pleased to have reached a mutually satisfactory agreement with the FTC," Mackey said in a statement Friday.

"We believe it was in the best interest of all our stakeholders to resolve this matter so we can dedicate our full attention to selling the highest quality foods available in our inviting store environments."

If the sale is approved, the company said it expects to record a noncash charge of a maximum of $19 million on the potential sale of the 13 operating stores. Those stores had combined sales of about $31 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, or approximately 1.3 percent of Whole Foods' $2.5 billion in total sales.